Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C, 12:46 PM, 1963
"Mr. President, PLEASE, you need to be in the hospital!"
Kennedy waved off the aide's concern with an annoyed look on his face "For the last time, I'm FINE, I got bigger problems to worry about than a few bruises! For god's sake man, Dallas is a damn war zone!" Kennedy was at his desk, his ruined suit jacket and tie hanging over the back of his chair. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, which were being looked over by a Secret Service agent with some medical training, he did indeed seem to have gone through the crash surprisingly intact. Jackie was sitting next to him, wrapped in a blanket, looking harried and scared, but otherwise alright as well.
"John, what-what happened back there?" She said, eyes wide "It all went so fast..."
"It was that man, the one in the purple hood. I think he was leading an attack on the motorcade. And the name, the one Captain America called him... he said it was Zemo! I had hoped I'd never have to hear that name again..."
"Zemo... it sounds familiar, but..." Jackie shook her head "I can't recall where I've heard it."
"If it's who I think it was, that was Baron Heinrich Zemo. And the world has hoped he'd been dead for 20 years. Clearly, we were wrong."
"With all due respect, Mr. President, that's ridiculous!" The grating voice of Director Hoover cut in. Kennedy glared in annoyance at the FBI Director who were one of the few members of his cabinet who'd managed to get back to the White House on such short notice. "Zemo IS dead, just because this imposter dresses like him does not mean it's the same man! You really expect a Nazi fugitive to have been able to avoid detection in the U.S for two decades!"
Some days he really regretted keeping Hoover on staff.
"Director Hoover, I doubt he's been hiding HERE all this time, and it's really not important right now, considering that whoever he is, he's leading a SUPERHUMAN ATTACK in Dallas as we speak!" Ignoring Hoover, Kennedy turned towards the middle-aged man with glasses and neatly combed hair standing by his desk "McNamara, we need to mobilize the national guard, before it's too late!"
Robert McNamara shifted nervously, adjusting his glasses "Mr. President, the national guard isn't equipped to handle this type of... engagement. They're trained to handle conventional military forces, not... superhuman terrorists!"
"Then get the damn ARMY on it if you have to! We got Captain America out there facing down god knows what with maybe one other hero as backup, and as much as I respect his abilities, the Captain can't defend Dallas by himself!"
"Sir, it'll take hours to even get anyone out there, and the first responders are even more out of their depth than the national guard! We have to-"
"John, listen to this!" Bobby cut them off as he walked into the office, holding a portable radio. "I got here as fast as I could, I heard this report on the radio on the way over here! There's still some media down in Dallas, broadcasting what's been going on!"
Bobby sat the radio down on the desk, the skeleton crew gathering around to listen. The reception was rather poor, but they could make out a voice through the static.
"-never seen anything like *static* -I think that- yes, yes, it is! That's Giant-Man down there! And there's Iron Man! *static* -The Avengers! The Avengers are on the scene! They're engaging the attackers! *static* -Sunshine? Yes, I think it's him, he's... taking people from the wrecks, they're disappearing down there! I think he's moving the injured- *static* -looks like The Sandman! Why is he even here?! And that looks like- *static* -active Man!"
....
"Look, I don't care WHAT your job is, there's no point of you trying to get in the middle of that fight! Even if you didn't have most of your blood on the outside, I really don't think you'd be much help!"
Not every survivor of the motorcade were in quite as bad a shape as Johnson had been. Some of them, such as the man I just pulled free from the fused remains of a car and two police motorcycles, were lucky enough to only recieve superficial injuries. The man in front of me, apparently a member of the Secret Service, who had introduced himself as Clint Hill, seems okay, other than a bleeding nose, and a few visible cuts and bruises on his hands and face.
"Listen "hero", I don't take orders from you, I work for the President! As long as I'm alive, it's my job to protect him and the First Lady!"
I groan in frustration, trying to ignore the sounds of the battle up the road "The President isn't HERE anymore, Agent Hill! I already got him out! Your job is already done for you!"
"That's not up to you to decide!"
"Fine, you want to make yourself useful? Instead of charging headlong into the fight and getting yourself killed for nothing, how about you help me find the other survivors before they all bleed out? Just pull out anyone who's still breathing from the wrecks, and I'll take them to the hospital as fast as I can. Either way, no time to stand around, let's go!" I rush off, leaving Hill behind as I continue searching the remains of the cars, and after a few sullen moments, Hill follows behind me.
.....
Spider-Man swung across the street, dodging one of the Melters blasts as he moved, hearing the man curse after him. Landing on a street light on the other side, Peter took careful aim, and with a quick flick of his wrist, a glob of webbing shot out, splattering across the lens of the Melters chest device, blocking it.
"What the hell?! What is this junk?!" The Melter tried to yank the webbing off, only to find his hand stuck as well, much to his frustration, yelling as he fruitlessly tried to free himself "You son of a bitch!! When I get this crap off, you're dead, bug boy! Hear me?! DEAD!!"
"Oh good god man, do us a favor and just SHUT UP, already!" Peter answered with an annoyed tone, shooting another web over the lower half of the Melters face, silencing him. Taking the opportunity, Iron Man zoomed down, a repulsor blast laying Melter out for the count.
"Great work, Spidey!" Iron Man yelled with a salute "Couldn't have done it better myself!"
Before Peter could reply, a giant foot stomped down onto the street in front of him as Giant-Man strode across it, swinging after the Black Knight who was zooming around his head on a flying horse of all things, firing energy blasts from his lance. Squinting, Peter could just about make out the tiny form of The Wasp darting around them. Two massive forms collided beneath him as The Hulk clashed with Rhino among the wrecked cars. A punch sent Rhino flying, making Peter leap out of the way before the villain slammed into the lamp post he was sitting on. Landing on Giant-Man's back, he crawled up, catching Thor flying by in the corner of his eye, dodging a crackling burst of radiation throw from below by Radioactive Man, before swooping back down to retaliate, hammer at the ready.
Giant-Man shook suddenly, one hand covering his face as he stepped backwards, and as Peter looked up, he saw why. The Black Knight had changed strategy, his energy blasts aimed towards Pym's eyes, in an attempt at blinding him.
Well, that was just not on.
"Wasp!" Peter yelled, trying to keep himself from loosing his grip on the costume "The horse! Stop trying to harm the Knight, the stings won't get through his armor! Use them on the horse!"
He wasn't sure if she'd heard him, until he saw several sparks appear near the animals hind quarters. Screeching in pain, the horse began to buck wildly, almost throwing off it's rider who had to struggle just to keep himself aloft, dropping his lance in the process.
"Alright, now to-"
His Spidey-Sense warned him just in time before a massive torrent of sand slammed into Giant-Man's back where he had been clinging moments before.
.....
Rhino spat out a mouthful of blood as he struggled back to his feet from the pile of gravel he'd just dug from the ground after The Hulk sent him flying. Shaking himself, he turned back towards his opponent, teeth gritted in hateful determination.
"HORN MAN STUPID! HORN MAN WILL NEVER BEAT THE HULK! HULK STRONGEST THERE IS!" Hulk scoffed, cracking his neck as he stomped forward, ready for a fight.
Rhino was reluctant to admit it, even to himself, but the Hulk was right, in a head-on charge, he wasn't going to win this. He needed something, some sort of advantage... and then something caught his eye.
He grinned.
"Fine, you're a tough guy Hulk, I'll give you that" Rhino said as he grabbed ahold of the high voltage wires that had been torn off from one of the buildings during the fight, holding up the ends which were sparking with electric current. "But let's see how you handle 10.000 volts through your fucking skull!"
"HORN MAN GIVE IT HIS BEST SHOT THEN!"
With a roar, the two lept towards eachother.
.....
Daily Bugle Offices, New York City, 12:47 PM, 1963
"What the hell are y'all standing around out here for?! We got WW3 going down in Dallas, we have a paper to finish, you slackers! Get your asses back to work!!" Jonah Jameson yelled through a cloud of cigar smoke as he stuck his head out of his office door, dismayed to see that rather than cranking out news like he was paying them for, his staff apparently decided their time was better spent huddled around a radio set on his secretary's desk.
Betty Brant looked up, her paperwork pushed to the side as she listened intently to the spotty broadcast "Sir, there's reports coming in from the attack in Dallas! Some of the reporters survived the attack, they're providing actual live coverage!"
For once in his life, Jameson actually kept quiet, skulking out of his office and joining the rest of the staff as he tried to make out the voice on the radio, chewing on his cigar thoughtfully.
"-Melter is down! The Melter is down! Spider-Man did it!"
The cigar fell from Jameson's mouth
"What did he just say?!"700